Motorola Droid & Cliq Getting Android 2.1, Droid to Get Flash 10

Don't worry Droid & Cliq owners, you're not going to be left in the dark. Motorola also announced that they'll be bringing both the Motorola Droid & Motorola Cliq to Android 2.1. Which means we should be able to enjoy all the goodies that made the Nexus Oneso jaw-droppingly sexy on our Motorola Android phones. We're definitely interested in seeing Motoblur and Android 2.1 interact, but that's a discussion for another day.

But the news doesn't stop there for Droid owners. Not only will they receive Android 2.1 but Motorola has been working on Flash 10.1 integration and has optimized it for the Droid chipset, which means yes, your Droid will soon have official Flash support. On top of that, the Droid should get a second maintenance update in the near future. Score big for Droid.

Since yesterday wasn't such a good day to be a Droid owner, today is shaping up totally different! What do you guys think?

Reader comments

Motorola Droid & Cliq Getting Android 2.1, Droid to Get Flash 10

I contacted T-Mobile today (2/10/2010) and they indicated that Cliq will NOT be getting an Android 2.1 update. I called a few T-Mobile stores to confirms with and half said it was and half said it wasn't. The ones that said it wasn't said they can't update the Cliq do to an equipment problem (specifically, the indicated a lack of a dual core processor). Is anyone else getting similar info?

Exactly why you don't call a retail store, hell even corporate for a answer. I literally called Verizon at about 2p.m. my time, over 24 hours after the first 1000 received 2.1, and they told me "We aren't told that sort of information and i'm pretty sure its not anytime soon because I have droid and have not heard anything." That's the exact response I expected. Every time I have called Verizon (well over 20 stores in the state) they have claimed to not know anything about 2.1 release.

Follow the Money, it will always take you there - T-Mo may not have the best US coverage but their US system is more like the 3G in the rest of the world therefore Google was going for the quickest path to the biggest possible world wide release, not the best US release posible.

Farmville? On a phone? I dunno, that seems to be asking a lot. Even from the Droid. I don't play it much myself, but all my friends with modern PC's and Mac's that play it complain that sometimes they have to close other applications and windows just so the computer isn't completely bogged down from Farmville. I guess we will have to wait and see.

I've played it using Skyfire on my Samsung i760 WM 6.1 phone. It's slow but not terrible. Since the Droid is generations ahead and Flash would be optimized, then I figured it's probably going to be a bit faster. I don't think it's asking too much since it's already doable on my old phone. Would be nice to get that Farmville fix on the go on my Droid, lol.

I'm hoping that optimized means that it runs at least close to full speed. I don't expect it to work as good as good as on a computer.

If you've ever tried Skyfire on Windows Mobile you see how slow it runs Flash. Well, I would be happy if it ran even just a little bit faster than that.

I wonder how they will handle clicking and dragging inside a Flash game. Multitouch would have come in handy for Flash interactions (i.e., drag the Flash input pointer by using two fingers and use one finger to pan around the webpage).

But I do agree with you, it would really push the processor and GPU to their limits.

to everyone flash is not a good thing .... I loved android and had a sprint htc hero but have recently switched to an iPhone( don't eat me lol) and the reason being is that flash just slows down the browser sooooo much it took 3 minutes to load up a site that my iphone loads up in 40 seconds and I did speed test and everything ... Flash also consumes slot of CPU I know that the htc hero had flash lite but I believe that the full version will be even worst because it will be able to pull even more flash content... I'm going to see if I will get a droid or a nexus one right now ...

Question does verizons network stay on 3G all the time with pretty strong signal ?? Because I am on att in new York and I am happy to say that I have never seen edge in my life

Happy to see the Droid is getting 2.1 and flash. I love my Motorola Droid and really don't see that much of a difference between it and the Nexus One besides the processor and 2.1. And when the Droid gets 2.1 the differences will be even smaller.

I love my Droid, I primarily use it for work but it is fast replacing my netbook as my second computer. Nexus One seems like a good phone but I travel a lot and there is no network better than VZ for voice and data currently. Also Goodlink just came out with their client for Android phones to enable enterprise email capabilities on the Droid, similar to Blackberry.

And Touchdown is really good. I was without real exchange integration since buying the iphone 2 years ago... now with droid and touchdown, I get calendars, mail, contacts (as I did on iPhone) plus tasks and GAL integration.

Why does such an important announcement only get an 11 line story barely three paragraphs on Android Central? With no details other than "Motorola announced". Like exactly where and when was the announcement made and by who? Was it just a press release or a live announcement at CES?
Unacceptable journalism. PreCentral would have been ALL OVER this story. AndroidCentral is pathetic by comparison.

They got it off of Twitter. Mathew Miller's twitter, that's what the little source link at the bottom is for. Why does it matter exactly where and when the announcement was made? I don't care if it was at 6:32PM local time in the west assembly room of the Las Vegas Convention center and I don't see why it matters. If PreCentral cited their sources as obviously as Android Central then maybe you'd realize where they got it from.

Hey fobrob , go suck on the tit of pre some where else dude , ur bs comments arn't welcome , if you dont like what they write then leave , simple as that .... and if u watched the blog or read it , it says when , kthxbai -sooks-

so i can make sure you see this - hey Sooks, your an asshole. i didn't write that mother f*cker. if you learned how to f*cking read it was submitted by "Anonymous." Go bufu your dad and sooks off your grandpa. kthxbai. have a nice day. fa**et

I honestly believe that Google needs to take a stand and tell phone makers that they cannot release a phone unless it is running the newest software. I think that this will stop fragmentation. The only reason I didn't get the Droid Eris is because I found it that it's running 1.5! I understand that it is going to be updated but I always need the newest software. Even though I got the Droid two days of the release date, I believe that I will be purchasing the Nexus One when it comes to Verizon in the Spring.

Verizon has done very well financially by moving away from locking everything down and toward more system openness with the Droid, so it has a big incentive to keep the upgrades coming. Geek cred can pay. It also did something really good by paying George Lucas for the name. I understand Google might have a legal problem with "Nexus One" because someone wasn't careful enough to do the same with the A.B. Dick estate.

It takes much longer for the custom UI devices though, they have to go back in an recode everything and reskin it all which is why it's taking so long. It probably will take just as long for the Cliq but the Droid is standard Android and their flagship device for now so I don't see it taking as long.

This website sucks. It was reported way before the droid came out on many other android blogs that the Droid was getting flash 10.1. Crackberry.com = good. androidcentral = 3 days late, completely missing some news, a site that just copies a lot of its stuff from BGR, ...=bad

This means we are going to be able to watch Hulu witht he flash update! All our fav tv shows :) Hey does anyone have any information when 2.1 will officialy be available to the public. there are a lot of hacks but none i would go dl

Folks, the root of the entire iPhone, Droid, Nexus One revolution is that you can expect regular upgrades and bug fixes. I had the Motorola Q (and loved it) but when you upgraded it was so stupid that it wiped out every bit of memory. And the programs (won't even call them "apps") had to be added by flash card or by transfer from a PC.

I would love a new phone or app or OS upgrade every week -- welcome to the new world. Now if the Nexus One model could only break the contract stuff of the carriers so reasonable pricing and terms could be arranged, it would really be a revolution.

The DROID is freaking awesome! Evenmore so with this newest update. Stock android 2.0 and now 2.1 with out any custom UI (motoblur, HTC sense etc)or home replacement is awesome! google is doing an amazing job with Android.

This article is useless. I bought the Droid a month ago in anticipaqtion of flash and Android upgrades. When will we get our upgrades? Thatg is the only question that needs considered when posting an article about this stuff.

Does anyone know when this update is going to be pushed? I am a Moto Droid addict (who may need counseling) and I can't wait for the Flash support. Finally I can Hulu!.

And there are 2 very distinct differences between the droid and the nexus: While droid does have the keyboard the nexus has almost twice the processing power. That 1Ghz snapdragon processor runs almost as fast as the Moto Droid and the IPhone 3gs combined. That processor is going to smoke my Droid's :( But despite that I don't think I want to trade to a touch screen keyboard *shudder*

Attention all Droid owners. I have started a Droid campaign on Facebook please come join..and to make sure there are no false Droid owners I ask that you take a picture of your receipt and the phone before being accepted. Thanks

I bought my Droid on drop date with no knowledge of impending os upgrade or flash add. even without them it is far and away the best smartphone I have ever owned. I've had samsungs sch-i600, xv 6700, xv 6800, & xv 6850... all of which sucked. I'm looking forward to verizons music and tv services to be made available to the droid and maybe its the next MR after upgrade. I'm a bit miffed tho about the way google handled droid drop knowing the blade runner phone was looming so near... and where tf is multitouch... google seems insensitive and flippant regarding this. LONG LIVE THE DROID!

my guess is that the update will come out on the cliq when the backflip is released some time in early march. and it will probably come out a little earlier for the droid and the milestone since theyre running vanilla. my estimate for the droid 2.1 update will be around late january and early febuary.

i am anxiously waiting for this 2.1 update. I actually have taken my phone back to the Verizon store a few times because i feel that the phone is buggy. it freezes and sometime will not allow me to call out on occasion and it delays messages and voice mails, not to mention the fact that i had them do a hard reset and they still blame all of my issues on the Google OS which i don't believe. I call out and i can hear the person i am calling but they don't hear me and the opposite as well. I honestly just want the update to come so i can get a new DROID and if not maybe my phone will work properly after the update.

to the guy above me...i think i know your problem my phone did that too...cause of my headphones. if i pull my headphone jack out of my phone while a song is still playing, i hear no sound from the phones speaker be it from music, games or even phone calls unless i put the headphones back in or restart my phone

Ok this is awesome news, I just wish you could let go of the big secrete and tell everyone when it comes out. Lol I don't want to sit up all night waitin for my pgone to tell me its updateing. By the way, I'm a cliq, so fucking awesome and I say better than droid.

battery life is different.....android 2.1 has so much goody. If you have the data plan...you will be pleased whit what you get. i mean there are widgets that help battery life but i don't think that will help the battery life.

Yes all you have to do is ok the update. Did you already get the 1st one, with the improved touch response, improved bluetooth connection and battery life? If not just go to about phone, system updates and click check for updates.

I know everyone has allready asked "WHEN" is the 2.1 update for the Verizon Motorola Droid going to be released. And although Im not expecting anyone to know an exact date.

Does anyone know if it is going to coincide with verizon's release of the Nexus One ? Or will the Droid get the 2.1 Update much sooner than Verizon is expected to Release the Nexus One ? Or do you think the Nexus One will be released by Verizon much sooner than the 2.1 Update will be available for the Droid ???

I Really think this is something ALOT of people would be interested in Knowing - Because "LIKE ME" I think alot of people are weighing their options of Purchasing a Motorola Droid (RIGHT NOW) and waiting for the 2.1 Update through Verizon - OR Just waiting for the Nexus One to be released by Verizon to purchase IT...

WHEN?! i am tired of unrealized prophecies being touted by bloggers who think they know it all... i want android 2.1 and i want it now, rooted, with wifi tethering and flash and a built in microwave oven!

Thanks for reaching out to Motorola. I’ve reviewed your e-mail and I’m ready to help.

Regarding your concern, at this moment we cannot confirm when an upgrade will be available. However the phone is ready to receive software upgrades to the Google Android OS, therefore upgrades are being planned, but we don't have a release schedule, or confirmation up to which Android version it's going to upgrade.

We hope that you find this information useful and look forward to assisting you in the future.

I contacted T-Mobile today (2/10/2010) and they indicated that the Cliq will NOT be getting an Android 2.1 update. I called a few T-Mobile stores to confirms and half said it was and half said it wasn't. The ones that said it wasn't said they can't update the Cliq do to an equipment problem (specifically, the indicated a lack of a dual core processor or someother hardware issue). Is anyone else getting similar info?

Idiots, the nexus one anals the droid in every possible way, the iphone? you went from a hero to an iphone? you are 1 dumb kid, the dumbest i've ever seen to be exact? 40 seconds to load a page on an iphone? LMAO my nexus one loads full pages like facebook among all the apps and comments within 3 seconds tops. HSPDA = above 3G with tmobile always 4 bars, tested an iphone 3g with at&t with the app called "SPEEDTEST" and he got 99kbits per second, I got 1,740kibs per second (1.7MBITS)with my rooted nexus one which owns anything out at the moment, the only competition it has is HTC EVO 4G which will come out for sprint "LOCKED" android 2.1 with 2 cameras for live chat and 720P HD recording capabilities. Nothing else comes close to the nexus one, not even the HD2. Thanks for your attention, I speak with facts, you speak with blind ignorance fanboish non sense. Thx

If by 2.1 w/ flash you mean still having that annoying little blue box in the place of the desired pic. then u're absolutly correct 2.1 has it...But silly me I kindda figured on 2.1 w/ Flash actually moving pics around and having audio. does anybody know an app or anything that will play non-Utube Video & audio...Video comes in great but No Audio when streaming from site...Other than that I'm good w/ the phone.

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